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JS Pier Pony Surfboard Review

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This big, fat groveler surfboard is JS Industries answer to surfing tiny, weak waves. While the big outline and bulky tail are hard to flick around, the JS Pier Pony has good wave range and can be surfed in larger waves versus other grovelers.

Firewire Sweet Potato surfboard review: the model that took outrageously oblong groveler outlines mainstream – some love it, some hate it but it does excel in tiny surf

Panda The Bear Essentials surfboard review: while I struggled at the very smallest end of the wave range, this is a lively, versatile groveler that can be ridden with both ease and precision in slightly larger waves (up to head high)

…Lost R.V. surfboard review: a tiny wave weapon from Matt Biolos of …Lost that does things in small waves that seem to defy the large outline

Look at the size of it! The JS Pier Pony Surfboard

Video Transcript

Hey, this is Ben and welcome to Benny’s Boardroom! I buy boards, I ride the boards and then I tell, you what I think about them in the hopes that it will help you to make a better decision when you go to buy your next surfboard.

This is the JS Pier Pony, by Jason Stevenson, a shaper from the Gold Coast, Australia and I purchased this board off the back of the Firewire Sweet Potato. Think back to the release of the Firewire Sweet Potato: it was the first (commercial success) of that extreme, square outline groveler shape and I had Sweet Potato but I had mixed feelings about it. Sometimes I really loved the way it rode but sometimes I really didn’t enjoy surfing it at all. I ended up trading it in for the JS Pier Pony and I have to say, right off the bat, that I really enjoyed surfing this board much more than the Sweet Potato.

You can see the Pier Pony has this really enormous outline. This board is intended to do one thing well and that is to catch waves easily . . . tiny, tiny, tiny waves and to generate speed quickly in really grovely, tiny conditions. It has an enormous wide tail, tons of foam running throughout, wide point forward and then a big, wide nose as well. If I show you the rocker, there is none. This thing is as flat as board, no pun intended. There is, literally, no kick in rocker at all and the foam runs all the way through to the rails. These are really full rails that are forgiving and good for cutting through mush and, again, giving you every ounce of volume you need to get going on the tiniest conditions. I really enjoyed surfing this surfboard as a groveler. I think this is one of the better grovelers out there.

JS Pier Pony Surfboard Tail

The Pier Pony has a couple things about it that I didn’t enjoy as much. Going back and showing you this tail, it is so wide and so thick that it is really, really challenging to turn. Again, this board is great at catching waves and great at generating speed but once I gathered speed and went to do a turn I often just couldn’t get this thing to stick in the water; the tail is just enormously bulky and huge. Similarly, the nose is also so wide and the rocker so low that whenever I was in conditions where the wave face was a little bit steeper, I literally couldn’t get this to stick in the face. But that is the trade-off of a groverler. To catch waves and generate speed in tiny waves, you need lots of foam and that foam generally reduces performance.

With this surfboard by JS, I was able to surf in larger surf, even up to head high, maybe even a touch overhead, but only if the wave face was quite flat. With any steepness, I always struggled to get into the waves with this nose being as wide as it is and with the complete absence of rocker.

That is my take on the Pier Pony by Jason Stevenson of JS Industries. If you’ve had a go on the Pier Pony, please, let me know what you think about it and thank you very much for watching Benny’s Boardroom.

My name is Benny and I have a surfboard problem.
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I had a 6'0 Pier Pony and really enjoyed it . i am 6"1 and 105Kg and it really turned my surfing around in regards to smaller days even down to bellow waist height. bennys review summed it up the good and the bad very well it could be quite hard to turn some time on full shapeless waves, but anything below head hight that had a bit of shape you could tear to peaces. it was really snappy as a quad i had kinetic racing co fins "X4" fins found them to really suit it aswell

I just bought a pier pony 5ft and loved every thing of it never thought I could have so much fun in such small surf. I could still turn pretty good and get some great carves heaps better than any long board u would use in that condition. Because the nose is so round and wide I could all ways lean into it and get in front of the wave and pick up speed no matter how small the swell is! Great board.

Just got a 5'4 Pier Pony. Works great in absolute garbage, makes those frustrating small windy days good fun. Catches anything, speed straight off the bat means you can throw a few hacks on sections you wouldn't have even though about previously. Surfed twice in waist high wind swell and had a real blast, went with this over the bottom feeder and BP/SP etc etc. For me it turns real well and could do all the standard snaps etc on crappy waves with no dramas. I am about 190lbs and the 5'4 is perfect I recon, if I was in better shape would go slightly smaller.?

Something about BENNY

Hi, I’m Benny! Welcome to Compare Surfboards and welcome to the family!

Like many of you, I'm a regular, everyday surfer but I LOVE IT! Struggling to find real, experienced based info. about surfboards and surf products, I started Compare Surfboards to help cut through the marketing hype and pro-surfer-wannabe-aspiration that leads many of us to buy and ride the wrong equipment. We ride them, we review them, we help you understand how they will actually work for you in the water. And, we want your voice in the conversation.

Join us on our journey of riding and reporting on the best boards we can find from the best shapers (both big name and underground) on the planet.